


Call the Midwife

by Just_a_Fangirl



Series: Because the Universe Conspired [8]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-16 21:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2285418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_Fangirl/pseuds/Just_a_Fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had taken precisely twelve days of working as a midwife in the East End for Rose Kirkland to grow bitter towards mankind. And it was MANkind, specifically, that took the brunt of her newly born antipathy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call the Midwife

It had taken precisely twelve days of working as a midwife in the East End for Rose Kirkland to grow bitter towards mankind. And it was _man_ kind, specifically, that took the brunt of her newly born antipathy. It seemed that every day she’d meet another pregnant woman who had been left by some despicable scoundrel who’d promised the world for a night or two together, only to run away when reality tried to catch up with them.

Growing up in war-ravaged London, Rose had always known that other human beings could be your enemies. But it was the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians – not English people, but ‘ _the other_ ,’ who could be bad.

And yet here she was now, a short ten years later, in a poor working-class district of London, and it was her own countrymen who were the enemy. In less than two weeks on the job, Rose had learnt not to be surprised when a man betrayed you, hurt you, or abandoned you. Men were now ‘ _the other_.’

It had been easy to hate the Axis Powers because it was a war, so impersonal. But when it was your own kind doing such terrible things to each other, it hurt so much more. It felt like a betrayal.

And now Rose was a lot colder than she had been when she arrived in the East End to begin her new job as a midwife.

A few months into the work, and Rose had grown naturally distrustful of any man she encountered, even ones who seemed willing to stick around and help. As far as she was concerned, they were the exception to the rule, and their bad nature might catch up with them one day.

So when she was called to visit an American immigrant at her tiny flat by the docks, Rose turned her nose up at the young man who answered the door, and strode swiftly into the bedroom to find her patient.

“Miss Jones?” she inquired, smiling warmly at the young woman lying in the shabby bed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Nurse Kirkland.”

“Please, call me Amelia,” the lady replied, struggling to push herself up on her elbows. Rose hurried to help, propping her up against the pillows and making sure she was comfortable.

“Then you must call me Rose,” the midwife offered politely. “I’ll be here to help you through everything, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

A sound by the door made Rose look up, and she frowned as the man from the front door strode inside and stood beside them. At first, Rose had assumed they were husband and wife, but as she saw them next to each other there was so much family resemblance she realised they must be related. Both had lovely golden hair and bright blue eyes (the man’s framed by a pair of glasses), with round, friendly faces and a few faint freckles.

“This is my brother, Alfred,” Amelia confirmed, gesturing towards the young man. “We moved over here from America to be with family after the war and, well, long story short…I’m afraid I did something stupid.”

Amelia’s face crumpled, and she looked down at the bump under the covers where her stomach was protruding.

“You must think I’m a terrible person,” she murmured, sounding heartbroken and ashamed.

“Not at all,” Rose said firmly, placing a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Believe me, you’re not the first to be in this situation and you certainly won’t be the last. I don’t judge you for a second my dear.” She shot a venomous glare towards Alfred, surprising him so much that he actually took a step back. “It’s the _man_ who did something stupid, not you. It’s _his_ fault for running away like a blasted coward.”

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that!” Alfred defended himself against the midwife’s scowl. “We’re not all like him!”

“Are you not?” Rose scoffed. “I may see some happy husbands in my line of work, but the number of…of _traitors_ makes me think that ‘good’ might not be the default for your sex.”

“Well, this is a rough area!” Alfred exclaimed, horrified that Rose could think so poorly of him and his fellow men just from a few bad examples. “Maybe some guys don’t want the responsibility because they can’t afford it! And – ”

“So the woman should be left to struggle alone?” Rose retorted, scandalised. “Your sister deserved this because the _poor man_ couldn’t even try to help?”

Alfred glanced at Amelia, watching him silently from the bed. He hung his head in shame, realising he’d actually been trying to defend the type of man who had left his own dear sister in this predicament. “…I’m sorry, Amelia.”

His sister chuckled. “It’s all right, Alfred. Men are all bastards, so you can’t really help it, but you’re not that bad compared to most,” she joked. She looked up at Rose, standing with her arms folded beside the pillow, still fuming. “And you should go easy on my brother, Nurse Rose. He’s not that bad, really.”

It was the midwife’s turn to hang her head sheepishly, embarrassed by her outburst. She knew she had been very cruel and completely out of line to accuse Alfred like that. She’d become so cynical since moving her, she had started to completely ignore the men like Alfred, who really did want to help. She glanced up at the American, blushing in shame.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Jones. That was very wrong of me. I promise I’m not really so ghastly about men all of the time, but when I see women in this situation…it’s rather difficult to see the good in people.”

Alfred’s posture sagged in relief, and he smiled brightly, all injury forgotten. “That’s okay, Nurse Kirkland! I totally understand. I kind of hate men, too, when I look at my sister at the moment.”

“Hey, now!” Amelia laughed. “I haven’t been hurt or left for dead. I’ll get through this! I’ll be absolutely fine – and what’s more, so will baby.”

“You will, indeed,” the midwife smiled, patting Amelia encouragingly on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Rose left an hour later, promising to return again at the same time next week and urging Amelia to ring if she had any questions or problems at all, no matter how trivial they may seem. Midwifery wasn’t just a job to Rose, it was her calling, and making sure Amelia had everything she needed was the only thing that mattered. Rose may have turned against men somewhat, but she was still kind and caring, and as selfless as she had been when she was four years old, the day she decided she wanted to become a nurse and help people who were in trouble.

As Rose left the dreary block of flats, strapping her bag onto the back of her bicycle, a shout from the doorway made her turn around.

“Nurse Kirkland!”

It was Alfred, smiling sheepishly, with a tinge of red on his cheeks. He joined her beside her bike, scuffing his foot nervously on the cobbles.

“Can I help you, Mr. Jones?”

“I…was wondering…Would it be all right…I mean, would you mind if…well…”

“Go ahead, Mr Jones,” Rose urged, misunderstanding Alfred’s stammering for nerves about asking questions about pregnancy. “Anything you want to ask about your sister’s health is quite all right. It’s good that you’re so invested in helping. I know it can seem like an uncomfortable subject for a man but – ”

“Um, no, that’s not it,” Alfred interrupted, his blush deepening. “I was just…wanting to ask if you’d like to, maybe, go out sometime? To dinner, or maybe the movies? Or whatever you English people do for fun?”

Rose stared, so many emotions flipping through her chest it felt something akin to a flipbook.

Alfred smiled at her stunned expression, encouraged by the fact that at least she hadn’t yelled at him.

“It’s not fair you see so many bad men. You deserve the very best and…well, I may not be it but…I’d love to try for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 365daysofusukk drabble calendar on tumblr. Posted on April 21st, 2014.
> 
> This AU and its title were shamelessly stolen from the BBC show "Call the Midwife." If you haven't seen it, get the hell away from "Downton Abbey" and Moffat-era "Doctor Who" and get your arse in gear. "Call the Midwife" is glorious and you should be watching it. 
> 
> Personally, I'm not a fan of Nyotalia fics, because Himaruya confirmed that the characters are completely different people as girls. And I love Arthur and Alfred, so why would I read a fic where one of them is missing?! But in this AU, one of them obviously had to be female, so I made use of the Nyotalia characters.
> 
> I refuse to use the fanon names of "Alice" or "Rosa" for fem!England, so I always call her "Rose" or "Elizabeth."


End file.
